It is so easy to take technology for granted. Some of us have access to more tools than we know what to do with. Others who read this may have access to relatively little. Just for fun, here’s my top five helpful tools on the computer, in reverse order:
5. biblicalpreaching.wordpress.com – not a shameless plug, but a pointless plug since you are here already! I hope this site is useful to preachers as they prepare to preach, that is the point of it.
4. Google – the internet is an incredible thing. If I want to use the Challenger disaster as an illustration, I can use google and have as much detail as I want almost instantly. There are dangers though. The internet can be more effective than an Oreck Excel vacuum cleaner at sucking away your time. Be disciplined, tread carefully, filter wisely. In the spiritual battle of sermon preparation, the internet can be an easy tool for the enemy too.
3. Good reference software – I have Libronix on my computer. This is a huge help, especially when traveling away from my bookshelves. It is possible to quickly skim through numerous commentaries helpfully turned to the right page at the click of a mouse button. I say Good reference software for a reason. There is a lot of filler material on reference software. Learn what is quality, up-to-date material and generally don’t give too much time or attention to the tools that aren’t. There are some real exceptions, but a lot of free software is free for a reason. While some titles may have been cutting-edge in their day, public domain status now is not without cause (generally they won’t sell). Use the best tools available to you, but they are tools – you still have to do the thinking work!
2. Good Bible software – I use Bibleworks for Bible software. I hear great things about Accordance and Gramcord, and Logos is also in the running. It is helpful to have a quick reference for parsing verbs, checking the lexicon, analyzing the frequency of a term and so on. It is no substitute for being able to handle the original languages and can become a crutch that allows whatever skill you have acquired to atrophy. Those who have not studied the languages should not think that merely parsing a verb makes you a language scholar, there is still much that the software won’t and can’t do for you. The blessing of speed in research is a responsibility, it means you theoretically have more time to do the hard work of thinking!
1. Word processor – Useful in so many respects. Obviously you can type outlines, manuscripts and so on. Cut and paste allows you to reduce a message to an appropriate length and focus. Material removed from this weeks message can go in what Dave Stone calls a “leftovers” section and may be perfect for next weeks message. Illustrations can be stored in a folder and searched for using any keyword you put in the file. Record, remember and retrieve, the key elements in effective filing. I could go on. I’ve put a potential danger or warning in the previous listed items. I can’t think of one for the word processor (I suppose I should say “back-up your files” – nothing worse than losing so much great material!)
Biblical Preaching 
“I have Libronix on my computer. This is a huge help, especially when traveling away from my bookshelves. ”
I have Quickverse, Wordsearch, Pradis and Logos.
I have found Logos the most helpful and easiest.
Pradis has some good stuff but limited.
Wordsearch has some nice stuff and is useful.
Quickverse is my least favorite on the computer but on my Palm/Treo I like Quickverse and MyBible.
Pastor Meade…
Good post…I think that Logos is second to none due to the breadth of the resources available. However, like you seem to indicate, it is a little clunky for just plain Bible study. I use Bibleworks like you. I have played around with some of the free ones, and truth be told, I think that they will do i a pinch as well.
One site that I think is very good for preachers who use the lectionary or are preaching on a text that touches the lectionary is http://www.textweek.com. There is a wealth of information there…
I use Logos daily and I agree that it is a top notch tool.
Recently though I have been thinking about getting BibleWorks also. Apart from the language flashcards, which I hear are a huge help in studying and remaining refreshed in Greek/Hebrew… I was wondering what other benefits there are to using both BibleWorks and Logos together?
Thanks,
Stewart MacLean
Well…Logos is a bit clunky to me. It’s search also is not that fast…Bible works is a much sleeker tool for bible search. If I didn’t have bible works I would use one of those free tools to do Bible study even though I use Logos/Libronix…
Basically…Logos is meant to search many types and kinds of documents…it can also search Bible texts…BibleWorks was specifically created to search Bible texts and now they are adding a few other tools here and there…
I think you need a Bible search tool in addition to Logos…I would suggest that a Bible search tool is more necessary than Logos, but then again I have both…
God Bless….
Ah, that makes sense…. thanks 🙂
To be honest I’ve only recently started using Libronix in a major way. I haven’t used the Bible study parts of it, just the commentaries and reference works. The reason I haven’t really tried the Bible stuff is because I’ve been using Bibleworks since 3.1 (I now have 7.0 and I think 8.0 is available or coming soon). I appreciate the speed of searching, the ability to be extremely specific in searches (I often use limits on the search, such as Pauline literature, and then search on lemma to find Paul’s use of a Greek term), the ability to do technical Greek/Hebrew searches, then there is flashcards, diagramming tool, easy interfacing with lexicons, etc. I know I could go much deeper too, and perhaps at the level I often work at Logos would be just as good. In reality it is best to find something you connect with well and then go further with it. I don’t want to be an expert at getting different Bible programs and learning to use them. I know Bibleworks and have become very familiar with it (and I know it is right up there in the top 3), so I won’t be looking elsewhere unless I find good reason to do so. For many people, especially those with no original language training, I would think the free software or Logos would be more than enough.